Winding indicator for a self-winding watch



Sept. 4, 1956 A. MAIRE WINDING INDICATOR FOR A SELF-WINDING WATCH FiledDec. 10, 1953 United States Patent WINDING INDICATOR FOR A SELF-WINDINGWATCH Aurele Maire, Bienne, Switzerland, assignor to Gruen Watch Mfg.Co. S. A., Bienne, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland ApplicationDecember 10, 1953, Serial No. 397,386

1 Claim. (Cl. 58-85) The object of the present invention is a watch ofany type, but preferably a self-winding wristlet watch.

It is characterized by a scale and an indicator visible from theoutside, one of which is driven by the barrel arbor and the other ofwhich is driven by the barrel so that the relative position of these twoelements indicates the degree to which the barrel spring is wound.

An embodiment of the invention is represented in the attached drawing byway of example.

Fig. l is a section of that part of the movement necessary for theunderstanding of the invention; Fig. 2 is a view of the scale andindicator and of the means by which they are driven; Fig. 3 is a view ofthe watch dial drawn to a smaller scale.

The barrel being shown at 1 in Fig. l and its arbor at 2, the first oneturns as the barrel spring unwinds and the second one on the other handwhen the said spring is being wound. Each of these two members drives atoothed wheel, that is to say, the pinion 3 for the barrel and thepinion 4 for the barrel arbor. In their turn, finally, these two wheelsdrive an indicator and a scale which appear on the watch dial. Thepinion 3 drives the toothed wheel 5 which makes the disc 6 revolve. Thepinion 4 drives the toothed crown 7, which surrounds the disc 6,concentrically and revolves about the said disc. The drive is effectedby means of the gearing 8 of the said crown.

The reduction ratio between the pinions 3 and 4 and the gearings 6 and 8respectively is identical. This is achieved in the example illustratedby utilizing both similar pinions and similar gearings. This ratio issuch that, to the total number of revolutions corresponding to thewinding up of the barrel spring or to its unwinding, there correspondsslightly less than one revolution of the rotating disc 6 and crown 7.

As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the disc 6 carries an index orpointer 9 which cooperates with a circular scale having graduationsreading from five to forty. The portion of the scale existing betweenthe graduation labeled 5 and the graduation labeled 40 and designated at7 represents an area of main spring run-down, while the graduationlabeled 40 represents a condition of maximum main spring wind.

From the above description it will be clear that if, when the spring ispartially or fully unwound and the index 9 is within the rundown range7' of the scale of the crown 7, any winding carried out with the barrelmotionless will result in making the crown wheel 7 and its scale moverelative to the motionless disc 6 and its motionless index. The rotationof the barrel arbor 2 provokes a rotation of the pinion 4, thus causingthe gearing 8 of the crown 7 to rotate. The winding being effected inthe direction of the arrow 10 in Fig. 2, the graduations of the scale ofthe crown 7 will pass in ascending order in front of the index. It is tobe presumed that they correspond to the number of running hours inreserve, or to a total of forty with the spring fully wound. If, on thecontrary, the barrel arbor remains motionless, with the spring partiallyH 2,761,274 Fatented Sept. 4, 1956 ice or fully wound, and if the barrelturns while actuating the movement, it is clear that it will be thedisc6, bearing the index 9, that will pass in front of the motionlessgraduations, for then only the pinion 3 which is integral with thebarrel, will turn, setting in motion the gearwheel 5 which, in its turn,is integral with the disc 6.

The direction of winding is the same as previously (arrow 10), so thatthe index 9 will describe the decreasing values of the scale oppositewhich it is moving. These decreasing values will correspond to thediminution of the watchs running reserve.

The scale of the crown 7 and the index 9 of the disc 6 thus form a cleardifferential, of which the relative position of the two members oppositeone another will be a constant indication of the running reserve storedby the barrel spring.

In the example shown in Fig. 3, this reserve is twenty eight hours andin the example shown in Fig. 2 it is the maximum, that is to say, fortyhours.

In this latter case, which permits overwinding of the barrel spring, itis necessary to provide means which will allow the barrel arbor tocontinue its rotating movement once the spring is fully wound, withoutthe result being an indication that the running reserve exceeds themaximum.

These means consist, according to the embodiment about to be described,in causing the disc 6 to be driven by the crown 7, as soon as winding iscompleted, or, in other words, in coupling together in this case the twoelements of the ditferential.

This result is achieved by arrangement that the gearwheel 5 drives thedisc 6 by means of a Breguet gearing 11, the meshing of which is ensuredby a foil 12, by providing said disc with a pin 13 and by adding to thecrown 7 a collar 14 bearing a stop 15. The whole is arranged angularlyin such a way that at the moment when the index 9 indicates the maximumrunning reserve, the stop pin 15 engages one side 16 of the pin 13, thisside being in alignment radially with the maximum reading of the scaleon the crown 7 and limits further relative movement between the crown 7and disc 6. If further winding is attempted, thus causing rotation ofthe crown 7, the stop 15 will push the pin 13 before it and the disc 6will carry out the same angular movements as the crown wheel, the indexremaining opposite the maximum on the said crown wheels scale. There isno longer any relative movement, the differential eifect is momentarilyeliminated.

As regards the rotation of the disc 6 independently of its drivinggear-wheel 5, said rotation is made possible by the Breguet gearing 11,said rotation being in fact in the same direction as the said drive.

It is, finally evident that the scale indicating the extent of therunning reserve could be arranged on the inner disc and the index on theouter disc.

The disc 6 with the single index 9 thereon could also consist of asingle pointer.

What I claim is:

In a self-winding watch of the character described, a barrel, a windingspring disposed within said barrel and operatively connected thereto andmovable between unwound and fully wound positions, a winding arborconcentric with the barrel and operatively connected to the spring forwinding the latter, and means for rendering a visual indication of theextent to which the spring is wound, said means comprising an indicatingring having a circular scale thereon extending through substantially 360in circumferential extent and provided with a comparatively widerun-down indication and an adjacent sharp maximum wind indication, adisc disposed within said ring and having a pointer thereon designed forcooperation with the scale, said ring and disc being mounted forrelative rotation about a common axis, a first gear train operativelyconnecting the arbor and ring in driving relationship, a second geartrain operatively connecting the disc and barrel in drivingrelationship, a one-way slip clutch interposed in one of said geartrains and permitting said disc to continue to rotate after the springhas been fully wound on said arbor, means on said ring providing aninwardly projecting finger underlying the peripheral regions of saiddisc, and a pin projecting from said disc and positioned in the path ofmovement of said finger during relative movement between the disc andring in either direction, said pin being in radial alignment with saidpointer, one side of said finger being substantially in radial alignmentwith the maximum wind indication and the other side of said finger beingin radial alignment with said run-down indication of the scalevReferences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS752,937 Waltz Feb. 23, 1904 992,118 Ebelhare May 9, 1911 FOREIGN PATENTS271,693 Switzerland Feb. 1, 1951 499,635 Belgium Mar. 16, 1951

